There’s no place like home, especially when you’re speaking of the Liberty men’s soccer team these days. The Flames entered this week’s action with a record of 6-3-3 on the year and a 6-0-1 record at home, and a huge match-up looking them in the eyes on Saturday as the Winthrop Eagles came to town.

Coming into Saturday’s play, the Eagles stood atop the Big South Standings with a 4-0-2 record in conference play. Liberty did not waste time getting on the board, scoring on a free kick in the 7th minute. Senior midfielder, Juan Guzman served the ball to the far post for defender Chris Mandell who headed it back across the box to fellow defender Greg White who had just broken free. White buried his shot into the left corner of the net for his first goal of the season.

Just 20 minutes later, the Flames added to their lead on an incredible strike from Chris Osbourne. Osbourne stepped in front of a clearance attempt from the Eagles, trapped the ball and took a touch to move into open space. He then blasted a shot from nearly 30 yards out that found its way over the head of Winthrop goalkeeper Enrique Miranda and landed it in the back of the net to give another Liberty defender his first goal of the year. The Flames took their 2-0 advantage into the intermission.

Following the halftime break, ball possession bounced back and forth with no strong offensive attacks. Winthrop was forced to press to get on the board, but the Eagles just could not get anything going against a tough Liberty defense that helped its goalkeeper to his ninth shutout of the season.

In the final few minutes of the contest, Flames leading scorer Darren Amoo put a dagger into Eagles with his 11th goal of the season on an assist from defender Michael Ward.

Overall, the Liberty men outshot Winthrop’s squad 19-7 in the contest, also holding a strong advantage in corner kicks with 14 to Winthrop’s 2. Liberty goalkeeper, Andrew Madero was not forced to make a save on the afternoon, while the Eagle’s Miranda made three stops.

With the win, the Liberty men move into a share of first place in the conference with a 2-1-2 Big South record and an 8-3-3 mark overall.

The Flames match against High Point on Oct. 27 was postponed in the 25th minute. Darren Amoo gave the Flames a 1-0 lead in the 5th minute. The game will be rescheduled Wednesday at High Point.

This week, the Flames will close out their home schedule on Monday night with an important conference match against the VMI Keydets.